Giving Knowledge: Doing it better together
December is the month that generates the most charitable giving in the US. This largesse is preceded by a flurry of appeals that ask us to give knowledgably, which is important, but giving to build knowledge is equally important and often overlooked as a virtue of philanthropy.
Recovering Humanity: Can Philanthropy Help?
Humanity is in retreat everywhere one looks. Perhaps hope lies in face-to-face interactions. Can a growing group of efforts that seek to reconnect individuals who are splintered into tribal divisions bring together on a human level what economic and political competition and technology have divided?
Discovery for All: The philanthropic promise of higher education
Familiar accounts of philanthropy in education focus on fundraising campaigns and impressively large gifts that mostly go to already well-resourced institutions. But philanthropy and education are also connected at their very foundations in a more subtle way: the promise that higher education should be open to all, and that such participation and knowledge sharing would in turn advance the frontiers of human knowledge more rapidly.
Philanthropy depends on government: The independent sector can’t live without it
Those of us who work in philanthropy and study it love to celebrate its power and significance. But decisions like the United States Supreme Court’s repeal of affirmative action remind us of the utter dependence of philanthropy and the independent sector on the government, even a government that is constitutionally committed to protecting our rights. We need government to preserve the independent sector itself as the foundation for whatever we seek to accomplish with philanthropy.
Heterodoxy is consciousness: Valuing pluralism for the discoveries it generates
The notion of an open society is prized precisely because it opens up space for the contest of ideas to lead to new insight. As we battle nefarious efforts to stifle the open flow of ideas, we should invite, anticipate, and welcome the discoveries to come.
AI and Philanthropy: Tools and Transformations
The moral imagination of philanthropic traditions is being called on to comprehend and manage the transformational changes of AI for philanthropy—and of philanthropy for AI.
Faith in Philanthropy: The awesome power of belief
Our ability to share beliefs in things we cannot see, whether they are spiritual or aspirational, is a terrific power that gives purpose to the work we do. It is the power of shared belief in philanthropy as a potential source of dignified possibilities that we have only begun to imagine.
What is this Age of Philanthropy?
How should we characterize our current era of philanthropy? It’s not obvious which of the contradictory trends should be given pride of place. We have great concentrations of wealth at the same time as issues of equity have become ever more prominent in the discourse around philanthropy.
